Border Liaison Officers seize drugs in Herat, Afghanistan

On 11 September 2012, Afghan Border Police (ABP) Officers working at the Border Liaison Office (BLO) in Islam Qala, Herat Province, seized 130 kilogrammes of opium at Robat Sangee close to Herat City. The operation was lead by Captain Abdul Sattar of the Islam Qala BLO assisted by officers from the Zone 4 Investigation Unit.

The raw opium was professionally concealed in a false compartment built into the cargo bay of a three-wheel motorcycle (pictured above). In addition to the suspect riding the motorcycle, the officers were able to identify and arrest two suspects escorting the consignment in a Toyota station wagon.

Captain Sattar stressed that the success of the operation was due to effective information and intelligence sharing between the law enforcement agencies within BLO structure at Islam Qala.

Border Liaison Offices are being established in Afghanistan under UNODC implemented projects and are aimed at strengthening and expanding the capacity of the different law enforcement agencies engaged in combatting transnational organised crime at international borders.

The above mentioned ABP officers' success was the result of the comprehensive coordination between different law enforcement agencies working together under the BLO umbrella programme in Afghanistan. Such activities will be extended to a cross border cooperation prioritizing the exchange of information and intelligence with the BLO in the Iran border side. The Islam Qala BLO was funded by the Government of Japan and became operational in mid-2012.